November 10, 2024

A young mom whose twin boys were diagnosed in the womb as conjoined has said she was “hoping for a miracle” when she refused to abort them.

Brianna Pereyda was just 20 years old when she welcomed her sons Josiah and Isaiah. She said she underwent a “spiritual battle” between “religion, science and numbers” during her pregnancy when she was told there was no chance that either baby would survive and that she should have an abortion.

“The doctors told me they were not going to survive,” she told The Daily Mail. “My mindset was that the babies would survive and God would save them. I kept saying, ‘No. God might give me a miracle.’ Even in the operating room, I had hope that I would see my babies cry and open their eyes.”

The boys had spinal abnormalities and concerns with their organs due to being conjoined. Doctors said they would not be able to breathe on their own after birth. Pereyda was also told that the pregnancy may pose a threat to her health and life, but she refused to abort her sons and aimed to give them every chance at life — even when doctors said they “did not approve” of her decision not to abort her babies.

“When I told them; ‘No, I want to continue,’ they just looked at me,” she said.

Even at 34 weeks, doctors pushed for her to have an abortion that would involve injecting the boys with a drug to “stop both the babies’ hearts.”

Pereyda held strong and doctors finally agreed to treat her pregnancy.

“They told me they would still help me, but that it would be best to not continue the pregnancy because of the risk of me bleeding out, losing blood, and dying,” she said.

Pereyda, a Catholic, “visited a Father for advice, and this priest … and I felt so comfortable with him. He told me it was still abortion, and it was going against God.”

She decided to trust her “faith and religion.”

When the boys were born on October 8, they survived for 27 minutes outside the womb, knowing nothing but love from their parents. Both babies lived long enough to be blessed by a priest and Pereyda did not suffer any complications.

“I saw them come out with so little life, and could not open their eyes,” Pereyda said. “When they snapped the umbilical cord, they were already declining. When the twins were given back to me, he [had] already passed. One still had a heartbeat. The other died right after.”

A GoFundMe was launched to help the family and more than $7,000 was raised to help pay for the funeral costs.

“It made me really happy to know my babies are getting so much love and touching so many hearts all over,” said Pereyda.

She added, “I think a part of us died that day. I especially feel empty because I carried them for so long.” Regardless, she’s glad she gave her children “a shot at life.”

“I would do it again. As a mother, if I had to sacrifice my body to save my children.”

You can find this article on the Live Action website.

 Pressured by her boyfriend and his pastor, she felt she ‘was going to die’ after taking the abortion pill

By Lisa Bast | October 21, 2024 , 11:44am 

When Amber Casey discovered she was pregnant, the 25-year-old was deeply conflicted. She didn’t want to have an abortion, yet she didn’t want a child with the man with whom she was having a casual fling. She wasn’t in love with him – they had just been dating for a short time.

Casey told Live Action News, “I only had known him for a couple of months. We met at work and started hanging out. When I told him I was pregnant, he said we’d work it out but soon changed his tune. I knew he was married but he told me his marriage was over.”

Still, Casey felt her boyfriend was connected to his wife despite telling her he was living separately and in the process of a divorce. While he told Casey it was “her body” and ultimately, her decision whether to have an abortion, she thought it best to “cancel” the pregnancy.

“I was so broken at this point in my life,” Casey said. “While I was raised a Christian, and occasionally attended church services, I didn’t really have a relationship with God. I was struggling to find my purpose.”

Though Casey didn’t tell her parents about her pregnancy, they strongly disapproved of her relationship with her boyfriend. As such, Casey felt as if she was living in a toxic environment. “My parents could see through my boyfriend’s charm,” Casey said. “They didn’t hold back in conveying they thought I was with someone who wasn’t right for me.”

At a crossroads, Casey felt as if she had nobody in her corner to provide wise counsel.

“My best friend at the time had been trying unsuccessfully to get pregnant,” Casey said. “So, when I broached the subject of abortion, it drove a wedge between us and shut down any productive conversation we could have.”

Boyfriend and pastor conspired to coerce her to abort

A Christian friend of Casey’s boyfriend told him all children were a gift from God. But he had something different in mind when he arranged a dinner with his pastor and invited Casey to come along.

Casey said, “First, this pastor made fun of my Baptist upbringing, then he told me that Jesus would forgive me if I had the abortion. He further stated that there were more cons than pros to going through with the pregnancy. I knew then that my boyfriend had conspired with him to convince me to terminate my pregnancy, despite his assertion that it was my decision.”

The pastor also told Casey she must get baptized to become fully in Christ and to be forgiven for her abortion. As the pressure mounted, Casey didn’t see a way out, yet was still grappling with the decision to abort her child.

“I visited a pregnancy support center to get more information about abortion and the counselors there prayed with me,” Casey said. “They talked me through it so I left thinking I wouldn’t have the abortion. My boyfriend disapproved of my decision to go there, knowing I’d be even more conflicted.”

Resigned, Casey made an appointment at an abortion clinic, caving to the pressure her boyfriend exerted. “I didn’t have the willpower not to go through with it. The decision was heavily influenced by my boyfriend,” Casey said. “Still, I was sick to my stomach knowing I would be complicit in ending my pregnancy.”

She wondered how she could call herself a Christian, yet kill her child. She knew she should have listened to her parents and steered clear of this man. Now, she had a strained relationship with them and with her best friend.  

“Because of the tension at home, I moved in briefly with my best friend who asked me to move out after a few weeks,” Casey said. “Then I stayed with my boyfriend and realized we had nothing in common but sex.”

She was ‘distraught’ after her experience with the abortion pill

Now, here she was at the largest abortion clinic in Charlotte, with loud music blasting from speakers to tamper any conversations between women seeking abortions and the pro-life sidewalk counselors.

Casey said, “I looked at the sidewalk counselors and felt shameful, but I also saw them as the enemy.”

She saw so many young girls waiting hours for surgical abortions, while she was there to get the abortion pill, thinking it would be a much easier way to end her pregnancy. Yet she had no idea what awaited her.

“They told me it would be like a heavier period,” Casey said. “They watch you take the first pill in the exam room, then send you home with the second pill. When I was given a prescription for the pain, I knew this wasn’t good.”

As she was standing in line at Walmart to get her prescription filled, she felt a warm rush of blood come out and immediately hurried to the restroom.

Casey said, “I pulled down my pants and saw the sac with the baby was there, but I couldn’t see much because tears were running down my face, blinding my vision.”

Returning to the pharmacy, Casey put her jacket in front of her pants to hide the blood stains. “I felt so numb, but I was also scared,” Casey said. “The reality of what I had done was started to permeate my consciousness and I became very distraught.”

By the time she arrived home, the pain was so intense she started to feel as if she was going to pass out.

Casey said, “I crawled on all fours to get to the bathroom. My vision was starting to dim, feeling as if I was going in and out of consciousness. I really thought I was going to die.”

She called the clinic and was advised to call 911. But she just curled up in a fetal position until she finally fell asleep. She experienced heavy bleeding for several days but never went to the doctor.

“I felt as if I deserved this, and cried myself to sleep many nights,” Casey said.

A new way forward: Forgiveness in Christ

Struggling to come to terms with her abortion, Casey confided in her hair stylist — whose mother happened to host a post-abortion Bible study in her home. Casey was connected to a place where she could find healing.

“It is amazing what God can do when you open yourself up to the kind of healing He offers,” Casey said. “It was tough to go through but worth it.”

She reconnected with a friend who was instrumental in introducing Casey to Love Life America. During the group’s Prayer Walk, standing on the sidewalk at the abortion facility where she had taken her first pill, Casey shared her testimony.

“Christ offers forgiveness and healing,” Casey said. “It is rewarding to see other women heal. I am seeking ways to be involved in the pro-life movement, and as I pray, God keep revealing more and more.”

You can find this story at Live Action news.

 By Chaz Horn | October 10, 2024 , 10:50am 

My twin girls would be 40 today. But their life was snuffed out before they had a chance.

Forty years ago.

It was my right and choice. I knew in my heart that it was wrong, and I told their mom that. But when push came to shove, I was weak and selfish, and I supported her in her decision.

I went with her to the clinic, and I’ll never forget walking through the front door to the office. It felt as though I had entered a cloud of spiritual darkness.

Sitting in the waiting room, I looked around, wondering what I was part of… I looked at the people with lifeless faces as I entered my personal horror movie.

That day changed my life forever.

What no one tells you: If you choose to allow someone to take your child’s life, or in my case, my children’s lives, you’ll experience pain beyond comprehension. It’s a natural response to having someone take your child’s life.

Think about allowing someone to take your child’s life because you permitted them. The grief and emotional anguish that follow are natural. At that moment, you have a choice to suppress the pain and believe it was your “right” and “choice,” which will lead to internal turmoil and bitterness, or embrace the truth and healthily work through your grief.

I suppressed the pain for years. It consumed me, and I almost allowed it to take my life.

I can’t describe the turmoil I dealt with for years. I pretended it didn’t happen.

But one day, I was sitting with some Christian friends praying. I felt God’s hand on my shoulder and a quiet voice telling me to let go and trust Him with my sins. I began weeping uncontrollably, which caught everyone’s attention, and the praying stopped.

Through my tears, I confessed that I allowed someone to take my child’s life. I didn’t know I had twins until later.

As I continued weeping on my knees, I felt God reach down and remove the 500-lb. weight of shame and guilt that burdened me for years.

If you are reading this, chances are, you or someone you know has lost a child because of abortion.

I encourage you to stop suppressing the pain and give it to Jesus. He will forgive you and heal your heart. You no longer have to live in darkness but can experience hope, joy, and peace like never before.

One day, I will meet my twin girls in heaven for the first time.

You can find this story on the Live Action website.

 September 11, 2024

By Tabitha Goodling

One young woman is about give birth to her daughter this fall thanks to the Abortion Pill Rescue Network (APRN).

Rebecca is due on October 12, having successfully reversed her chemical abortion.

The mom of two young boys did not think it was possible for her to have another baby when she saw the positive pregnancy test earlier this year.

Rebecca conversed with Pregnancy Help News through email about her APR story.“The father of my baby gave me two choices: have an abortion or he wouldn’t be involved in the baby’s life,” she said. “I felt like I had no good options to choose from.”

Rebecca admitted she was “too ashamed” to walk into a Planned Parenthood. The closest such clinic was two hours away.

She instead went online and ordered the pills – without any consultation with a medical professional.“I knew it was a mistake as soon as I took the first pill,” Rebecca said. “I panicked and searched online how to reverse the pill.”

The APR hotline came up in Rebecca’s search. She said she was relieved to hear the voice on the other end.

“They were there with me every step of the way,” Rebecca said. “They helped comfort me, made sure I had adequate medical care.”

She was then referred to an OB/GYN and given progesterone, the hormone that reverses the damages of the first pill, mifepristone.

Abortion Pill Reversal entails prescribing bioidentical progesterone to counter the abortion drug mifepristone. Progesterone is the natural hormone in a pregnant woman’s system necessary to sustain pregnancy. As the first of two abortion drugs in a chemical abortion, mifepristone blocks progesterone, starving the unborn baby of essential nutrients. A second abortion drug, misoprostol, later causes the mother to go into labor and deliver her deceased child.

If a woman acts quickly enough after taking mifepristone it may be possible to save her unborn child through APR. To date, statistics say that more than 5,000 lives and counting have been saved thanks to the APRN, a network of medical professionals, clinics, and pregnancy help organizations that facilitate APR.

Rebecca decided to “flush the second pill down the toilet.”

Rebecca said as well that she is extremely grateful this program exists and that she will be able to hold her daughter in her arms very soon. 

 By Lisa Bast | September 9, 2024 , 10:58am

Cassaundra Baber was an 18-year-old college student when she encountered a predator during an evening at a nightclub with friends from her dormitory. To a bystander, she looked to be young and innocent with a page-boy haircut framing her face, standing alone, separated from her friends, wondering what to do. One man took advantage of that innocence to rape her.

Baber told Live Action, “That’s when a man came up to me and told me he’d help me find my friends. But he kept moving me along, like he knew what he was doing. Soon, he led me outside and that’s when I began to feel afraid. He steered me to an alley, and it was then, I knew I wasn’t getting out of there.”
It was then that the man sexually assaulted her. 

“He was so clever, he knew I was unworldly,” Baber said. “I couldn’t quite process what had happened to me. He tried to pretend he cared about me.”

When Baber’s friends found her, they were upset, thinking she had snuck off with a man she just met. But the rapist whispered in Baber’s ear that she hadn’t done anything wrong.

Baber said, “When I got home, I scrubbed my body, pushing away from my mind the trauma. Everything was so confusing at the time. I just didn’t realize I had been violated.”

But the perpetrator wasn’t finished tormenting her. He found her phone number and left “creepy” messages on her answering machine.

“I finally called him back and told him I had a boyfriend, to leave me alone,” Baber said.

Six weeks later, Baber discovered she was pregnant, a stark reminder of the assault.  While she was elated to become a mother because she loved children, she was also frightened about the uncertainty of her future. Her friends and school counselors urged her to get an abortion.

Baber said, “I was at a private school where most of the students were wealthy. I was told I was ‘too poor and too smart’ to let an unplanned pregnancy ruin my life.”

Yet Baber knew abortion for what it was: the intentional killing of preborn children. Her grandmother had been active in the pro-life movement and Baber had been raised in a devout Catholic home, both influences that had shaped her attitude about abortion.

“My grandmother volunteered at Birthright and brought home models of preborn babies,” Baber said. “She showed me the film, ‘The Silent Scream’ which was very powerful. I also had a determined personality and that helped me withstand pressure to terminate my pregnancy.”

While her parents were divorced, they were supportive, especially Baber’s father.

Baber said, “I knew it wasn’t going to be easy, but I was very motivated to do well for my son and to prove to the world that I could succeed as a teen mom.”

Inspired by her child

Armed with tenacity and dedication, Baber excelled academically in school through pregnancy and after her son was born.

“I was studying journalism and would take my son to the newsroom with me,” Baber said. “I figured I had a right to be there with my baby and I found nobody cared that I did. The abortion industry wants women to believe they will not have support to thrive as single mothers. I’m living proof that’s a lie.”

Yet Baber did have challenging days working, attending class, and caring for a baby. Her faith was instrumental in getting her through those days. She looked to Mother Mary as a source of inspiration, a woman who suffered much but who silently persevered through difficult times.

Baber said, “I sacrificed to ensure my son was brought up in a healthy environment. I dated but didn’t feel safe bringing a man into my home while raising my son.”

Still, Baber grappled with the unhealed wounds festering inside her. It wasn’t until her son went to college that she found the healing that had eluded her for so many years.

“During a time, I was dealing with promiscuity, addiction, and nightmares,” Baber said. “I kept going to Mass seeking understanding of what I had been through. I joined women’s groups, trying to talk about my struggles, but felt ostracized. Nobody could relate to my story and didn’t know how to help me.”It was as if she was adrift in a sea of confusion with no lifeline in sight. She learned to spend time with Jesus, praying for guidance and restoration.

While at an “Unbound” conference, a woman approached Baber and told her Jesus was going to heal her.Baber said, “I went through seven years of deliverance and inner healing. For the first time, I faced what had happened to me. I was eventually diagnosed with post-traumatic stress syndrome.”

A new mission

Going through her journey prompted Baber to give up her successful career as a journalist to share her story with others.

She founded Momdacity, a pro-life movement empowering women with the audacity to mother in an anti-mom world.

“Momdacity came about almost as a sarcastic slap to the pro-abortion movement’s underhanded claim that motherhood is such a dooming experience,” Baber said.

For Baber, there is much more to do. She is currently working toward a master’s degree in psychology and plans to launch a ministry, “Make Her Known,” to offer online coaching and group sessions.Baber said, “I’m coming into a new chapter in my life. I promised God I would do whatever he asked. I want others who are dealing with unresolved pain to learn how to move forward and fully embrace life again.”
She maintains a close relationship with her son who is now an engineer living in New York City.

“Dakota was always aware of the circumstances surrounding his conception,” Baber said. “He grew to be a beautiful, loving, caring person who’s very inventive and intelligent. I am proud of the person he’s become. I have never regretted for one moment having my son.”

She finds it abhorrent how the abortion industry leverages the trauma of rape to convince women to abort their babies as if these babies were the source of their suffering.

Baber said, “It’s vile to use experiences like mine to justify murdering children like my son. I will not sit down and be silent about the atrocities of abortion. We must continue our fight to further pro-life principles.” 

Last week, Grammy-winning singer Alicia Keys opened up about her childhood, explaining in a CBS News interview that her mother almost had an abortion when she was pregnant with her. Keys’ new book, “More Myself: A Journey,” is set to release soon, and she’s been speaking frankly about her life and the difficult decisions she has had to make — including the decision to choose life for her own child.

In an interview with PEOPLE, Keys admitted that she considered having an abortion when she got pregnant with her second child. Keys is married to producer and rapper Swizz Beatz, and they welcomed their son Egypt in 2010. And in 2014, when Keys was hard at work on her sixth album, she realized she was four months pregnant and was already struggling with a busy life. “I wasn’t ready for this, which is what I told the doctor,” Keys wrote. “‘This is the worst time ever. I’m working on my next album. My husband just got into Harvard Business School. And I’ve been drinking—a lot.’ I left her office feeling so torn.”

Even though Keys, who has previously expressed pro-abortion sentiments, is a successful, award-winning singer in a loving marriage with millions of dollars in the bank, she still felt scared and overwhelmed at the prospect of an unexpected pregnancy. Ultimately, though, she chose life for her son.

“While I was struggling over my choice, I went into the studio one evening and began listening to ‘More Than We Know,’ a song Swizz and I had written,” Keys said. “The lyrics are about how we’re capable of so much more than we can ever imagine. My eyes filled with tears. How could I take away the potential for this beautiful child, this light that could touch others in ways I couldn’t dream of. For me, the song was a powerful message that I should go on with the pregnancy.”

Her son Genesis was born in December of 2014, and she’s now a happy mother of two. But her story shows how easily women can feel as if they have no choice but abortion. Keys even felt that way; it’s not hard to imagine how a woman struggling financially, without a partner or a family to support her, or without a career to depend on, might feel just as scared, if not more so. Keys shows that women aren’t necessarily choosing abortions because they cavalierly want them; they choose abortions often because they’re desperate, vulnerable, and think they have no other choice. What we, as pro-lifers, must do is fight to give them other choices, so abortion isn’t just illegal; it’s unthinkable.

This article was taken from the Live Action website.